Ultrasound Technician Salary

March 22, 2011

A career as an Ultrasound Technician is an exciting career in the medical field offering a promising future with great benefits and pay. Many technical schools, Junior colleges and Universities offer training classes for this fast track career that can land you a job in as little as one year. If you invest the time to earn a degree or certificate, what can you expect to see in return? Is the average salary worth the time and effort? Lets look at the job description, schooling and average salary.

Job Description

Before deciding on a career, it is important to understand the daily routine a person in the that career undergoes, including the tools they use, the responsibilities they hold and where you can be employed. As an ultrasound technician you will use an instrument called a transducer. This piece of equipment will allow you transmit high-frequency waves through the body of a patient. These waves bounce off a specifically targeted part of the body, such as the stomach of a pregnant woman during a sonogram, allowing you capture the echoes of the waves while converting them into visual images.

They also use this equipment to diagnose internal problems with the bodies organs, nervous system, digestive system, blood vessels, tumors, eyes and tissues that cannot be seen with the naked eye. An ultrasounds non-invasive technology allows physicians and doctors to safely capture detailed images of the body not using radio graphic technology, or x rays making the technology more popular making job demand higher than ever. Because of the high demand of employees in the health industry, this particular career field is on the rise and expected to continue to grow. It is great to pursue a career that shows a promising future, even in a below par economy.

Training and Schools

Career specific job training is key to getting a job in as little time as possible. For this reason, there are many fast track schools that offer the exact training you need, nothing more or less. Career schools offer hands on training that will get you in and out of school with a degree in a hurry. It is important to make sure that you attend a school that offers an accredited education program, and remember that a job in this field will require keeping your skills up to date with future training programs to maintain a valid certification.

If you are currently in high school and are planning to take career minded classes while you can, courses that will come in handy for the ultrasound field are that of, mathematics, science and liberal arts. So the real question when it comes to ultrasound technician schools, is how long will it take to earn a degree?

Some of the options you have to look into in schooling are earning a certificate or diploma. To earn your certification you are looking at a fast track course of 1 year. Next in the time line is that of an associates degree. On average an associates degree can be achieved in about 2 years. Finally you have the option to stay in school for another 2 years, for a total of 4 years to pursue a bachelors’s degree in ultrasound technology. As you will quickly find out, the amount of schooling and level of degree you earn will greatly influence how much money you can earn in this field.

Salary

There are many variables that effect every career industry, including that of all technical jobs. For this reason you will see fluctuations in hourly and annual salaries due these variables. One of these obvious variables is that of your schooling. Your education level, will not only affect your average sonographer salary, but can affect if and where you will be able to get a job.

If you are not new to the field and are looking to relocate from one job place to another, you level of experience and any specialized training you have recieved while on the job.

A third variable to a fluctuation in the expected average salary is that of your location. This has to do with your geographic location as well as your place of employment. The local economics will effect the expected ultrasound technician salary by state as well as even causing fluctuation from city to city within the same state. Just as working in a large hospital will offer different pay from working in a small physicians office.

With less than a years experience you can expect to earn about $19.00 per hour and expect to see if reach as high as $26.00 hour as your experience level grows. The annual salary can fluctuate quite a bit but can be expected to be between $45,000 to $52,000 per year with little experience, while the opportunity to reach an annual salary of $69,000 per year is very attainable of the years as an ultrasound tech.

Money is a very important aspect of any career, however money should not be the sole reason for pursuing any career. Make sure the career you choose will not only provide for you and your family physically, but make sure it will keep you happy on a day to day basis. It is not always possible to find a job we love, but when we do it makes working that much better. A career as an ultrasound technician can offer you a bright future with a great annual salary and the ability to help people in a field that will flourish even when the economy isn’t.